Prospective Longitudinal Observational Study on Insulin Dependent Diabetic Patients Undergoing Any Form of Solid Organ Pancreas Transplantation Aimed to Clarify Quality of Life Changes After Pancreas Transplantation

Rationale of the study:

There are 3.5 million people in the United Kingdom diagnosed with diabetes. Their life expectancy is significantly reduced when compared to non-diabetic population. The long standing poor metabolic control causes a cluster of complications such as metabolic instability, cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, retinopathy and neuropathy which have a major impact on the clinical and social wellbeing of these individuals.

Solid organ pancreatic transplantation restores endocrine pancreatic function, but it is still burdened by significant perioperative morbidity and mortality.

There are other less invasive transplant options we can offer to this cohort of patients. The most common are Kidney Transplant Alone (KTA) from deceased or living donor in the diabetic and uremic patients and Islets Transplant (IT) for those with hypoglycemia unawareness and preserved renal function.

Although current literature suggests that the less invasive approaches may be less effective in the long term, potentially they could resolve the most compelling clinical needs at a lower surgical risk.